Crash-land passengers to sue Boeing

Passengers on a plane that crash-landed at Heathrow airport last year are suing aircraft manufacturer Boeing in a multimillion-pound action.

All 136 passengers and 16 crew survived when a Boeing 777 lost engine power and came down short of the runway at Heathrow on January 17 2008.

But a number of passengers were injured and London-based law firm Stewarts Law has started an action against Boeing on behalf of 10 passengers.

One of those is Paul Stafford, the academic director of international development at Kingston University in south-west London.

He said: "I remember smashing into the ground and the undercarriage being forced through the wing by the impact. I was convinced that I was going to die. I think about the crash every day and wish it had never happened to me."

The UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is still working on a final report into the accident.

It has so far produced two interim reports which have said that there was a reduced fuel flow to both engines as the plane, which had taken off in Beijing, came in to land.

The AAIB's reports have looked at the possibility that ice accumulated in the 777's fuel system. Claiming that the 777 was defective, Stewarts Law has lodged a law suit with the Circuit Court of Cook County in Illinois, in the United States.

It is thought that if successful, the passengers in the case could be entitled to almost £600,000 each in compensation.